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October 16, 2008

Is having an A-list, rich, beautiful girlfriend a mitigating sentencing factor?

I love being able to call People magazine professional reading, and I can now do that due to the upcoming sentencing of actress Anne Hathaway's former boyfriend. Here is People's coverage of the ex-beau's latest sentencing arguments:

Anne Hathaway's ex will definitely do hard time — the question is how much. Admitted con man Raffaello Follieri — who pleaded guilty last month to wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy — is hoping to shave off some of his prison sentence, the Associated Press reports.

In papers submitted to a Manhattan federal court Tuesday, his attorney asked that the Italian-born businessman be sentenced to three years in prison, not the four-plus years he agreed to in his plea deal, the wire service reports. Attorney Flora Edwards says Follieri had good intentions when he started a business to buy property from the Catholic church. But he "became intoxicated with it all" when he began moving in A-list circles.

Follieri, 30, dated Hathaway for four years. They split in June just before his arrest.... He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 23.

Thanks to the wonders of the world wide web, you can read the 13-page sentencing submission from the defense at this link. The conclusion encourages the sentencing to echo a "deeper public commitment to compassion."